Many merchants permit customers to order and purchase prepared foods that are packaged for consumption in one or more alternate locations. For example, a restaurant may provide patrons with unfinished portions of meals that were ordered for consumption on the premises, or permit patrons to order meals “to go,” and enable such patrons to depart the restaurant with full or partial portions of such meals, e.g., in bags or boxes. Similarly, many markets, grocery stores, street vendors or like merchants will cook or otherwise prepare foods such as salads, sandwiches or entrees, wrap or envelop the prepared foods in packaging that is typically made of paper, plastic or other, similar materials, and hand the packaged, prepared foods to a customer in exchange for consideration. For Americans who are constantly “on the go,” the ability to order prepared foods from any number of sources, and the flexibility to consume such foods in locations of their choice, are essential traits of modern dining experiences that may commonly occur in undefined or unpredictable locations.
Typically, prepared foods that are purchased by customers are presented on a plate (or bowl), or like disposable tableware, or in a container that may entirely or partially enclose the prepared foods therein. Unfortunately, a plate is not a container, and a container is not a plate. For this reason, a customer who desires to consume his or her meal on a plate is required to carefully transport the meal on the plate from a source of the meal to a destination where the meal is to be consumed. Any disturbances or disruptions encountered by the customer while traveling in a vehicle, ascending or descending stairs, or walking along a sidewalk or other passageway may cause some or all of the meal to roll or spill off the plate. Likewise, a customer who purchases his or her meal in a sealable container may usually transport the meal to an intended destination without spilling any of the meal while en route, but must locate a plate, a bowl or other tableware upon his or her arrival.
Several attempts at creating containers in the form of plates, incorporating a plate into a container, or using plates as containers or vice versa, have been previously met with limited success. Occasionally, some customers will choose to eat prepared foods that are packaged in “to go” boxes or other containers made of cardboard, foam or other semi-rigid materials directly from such containers. Some such boxes or containers enable customers to tear off lids or other surfaces and to use the torn-off lids or surfaces as plates. Where prepared foods are presented on a plate of a disposable nature, the plate may be temporarily covered by one or more sheets of plastic or paper, or by a lid that snaps into place and may be removed when the foods are to be consumed. Such solutions, while creative, are unable to surmount a number of limitations or hindrances associated with containers or plates, however. For example, most cardboard boxes or food containers must be formed and dissembled by hand, e.g., by inserting a plurality of extensions into slots or by removing the extensions from such slots. Furthermore, removing one or more panels of a box or a container for use as a plate effectively prevents the box or the container from adequately containing any food product therein in the future. Similarly, plastic containers or plates are, by their very nature, plastic, and are unable to be reshaped or reformed into different objects.